Mo’ Sheep Stress

Is it possible for someone who was once excited about their relationship with the Lord to get to a point where they just want to give up?  If so, what would cause that and what would the Lord do to help?

I asked the Shepherd that and here’s what He told me.

The exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea have already happened.  Moses and the sons of Israel have been on Mt. Sinai for about a year.  It’s been quite a year!  The people worshiped the golden calf.  Moses has proven himself to be a fervent intercessor for the people.  And God has given not only the moral law of the ten commandments but the civil and religious laws.  Throughout Leviticus and the first nine chapters of Numbers, about sixty times the bible says something like “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…”.  So, Moses quite literally had a wonderful mountain-top experience with the Lord!

It’s no wonder that when the time came to leave Mt. Sinai, Moses was excited.  He even invited his father-in-law to go with them because Moses remembered all the good that God had promised.  So, excited about the future and inviting others to join the journey, Moses leads the people off the mountain.

But three days later, the people complain.  The Lord is angered, the people cry out, Moses intercedes, and the fire of the Lord that had burned among them dies out.  Whew!  Surely, the people have learned a lesson.

Nope.  They complain again.  This time they are complaining about the daily menu.  It’s not that God is not providing them something to eat.  They want something better.  They long for the good ol’ days back at Cafe Bondage in Egypt.  Being ungrateful and selfish they just want what they want — meat!  (See, sheep am dumb.)

And here’s where Moses loses it!  The Moses we now see is very much “displeased.”  He is no longer excited about the future.  He just wants to die.

So the answer is “Yes.”  It IS possible for someone to lose their excitement and passion for the Lord.  It happened to Moses.  Has that happened to you?  I suppose Moses could blame it all on the pressures of life… the complaining people… his responsibilities in life.  But is that really the reason?  No doubt, those things didn’t help.  What do you think?  Why not read through the passage (Numbers 10:29-11:23) and listen for the Shepherd to guide you.  I’ll be back tomorrow to share the two reasons I found.

Listening for my Shepherd’s voice